


Blush

by ThisOldThing



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternative 2x18, Canon Divergent, F/F, Friends to Lovers, One Shot, jealous kara
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-10-20 13:07:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17622938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisOldThing/pseuds/ThisOldThing
Summary: Kara Danvers feels like she's hit by a bus when she sees Lena with Jack, and she starts to think that maybe she thinks of Lena as more than a friend.





	Blush

Kara had been hit by a lot of things she wasn’t expecting, seen for a brief moment out of the corner of her eye just before they landed heavily against her. Fists. Energy bolts. They usually knocked her sideways, sent her reeling and struggling to regain her form. But none of those compared to the blow of seeing Lena smiling up from the crowd at Jack Spheer. 

Kara had seen the moment of recognition on Jack Spheer’s face as he looked down into the crowd, how he stilled and turned serious, his eyes training in on the seat next to hers. So Kara had glanced over at Lena to see if she noticed as well, and the sight of her staring back, a gentle twist of her lips in a knowing smirk stole Kara’s breath. It was an intensely private moment between them and Kara turned her eyes away immediately, fixed her glasses and stared at her hands. Jack resumed speaking and Kara hazarded another glance, just a quick look to make sure her friend was all right. And she felt her stomach drop and twist when Lena’s eyes followed Jack as he walked across the stage. 

Kara had frowned and gotten back into the speech, had tried to smoosh the swirl of feelings down as she left the conference hall with Lena. She’d embarrassed herself by over-laughing at Lena’s compliment in front of Jack and had stalled when Lena gave her the look that asked her to leave. Kara felt her stomach twist and her brow knit as she exited the convention center.

She waited an hour before texting. 

Kara: Are you all right?  
Lena: Yes. Thank you for going with me  
Lena: I don’t think I would have been able to go without you  
Kara: Of course, any time  
Lena: <3

Kara had spent the next day at loose ends, half-heartedly working on a blog post about Spheerical Industries’ advancements, her stomach twisting every time she saw Jack’s face on their website. She clock watched until 5pm and then called Lena, standing and pacing in her apartment as the phone rang. 

“Kara, hi,” Lena said and Kara beamed at the sound of her friend’s voice. 

“Hey, what are you doing tonight? I thought we could grab take out and binge watch something.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I can’t.”

“Lena, you have to leave work sometime,” Kara teased with a wide smile. 

“I’m at home right now, actually,” Lena said. “It’s just, I’m going out to dinner with Jack tonight.”

Kara stopped abruptly next to her kitchen island. “What?”

“He stopped by the office today and asked.”

“Wha- Uh, where, where are you going?” Kara rubbed her thumb along the edge of the wood countertop.

“I don’t know, he’s going to pick me up in an hour.”

“An hour,” Kara repeated. Lena never left work early, and to leave work early to get ready for a… “Are you ok?”

“Yeah,” Lena breathed out. “I think.”

“Do you need back up?” Kara asked and Lena chuckled into the line.

“I hope it’s not that kind of dinner,” Lena said. “He said he wanted to talk. Catch up.”

“Oh,” Kara said. Her lips quirked. “I could still join.”

Lena’s voice was almost impossibly soft. “Thank you but it’s not necessary.”

Kara swallowed around the unease she felt. “How about a password? You could text me and I could call and pretend to be a work emergency–”

“That’s really sweet but I think I’ll be ok,” Lena said gently. 

“Ok,” Kara said, looking to her feet. “Well. If you need anything tonight, I’m just going to be home. Call or text any time.”

“Thank you,” Lena said and Kara could hear the nerves in her voice. 

“Have fun,” Kara said, and she felt instantly guilty because she knew she didn’t mean it.

“Thanks,” Lena said. Kara was starting to pull the phone from her ear when she heard Lena’s voice. “Kara.”

“Yeah?”

“Should I wear an orange dress or green?”

Kara was taken aback. Lena had never asked for help like that before. She imagined Lena in both colors before speaking and she felt petty as she spoke. “Orange.”

“Yeah?”

Kara could imagine Lena in that moment, looking at herself in a floor length mirror, holding both dresses against her. How bright her eyes would sparkle with the green held against her skin. “Yeah,” Kara said, her face pulled into a tight smile. “You’ll look great.”

“Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

“Talk soon?”

“Of course.” Kara hung up the phone and her face fell.

****************************************

It had to be a mistake.

Kara swallowed hard, her eyes staring at her bedroom ceiling in the dark. She clutched her phone to her chest, the rectangle hard against her sternum. She pressed the side button with her thumb and picked the phone up to look at the time, 3:03am glowing back at her. 

Lena would be asleep by now.

Kara laid the phone back against her sternum and swallowed hard. She hoped Lena would be asleep by now. The reason why she might not be started to invade Kara’s mind and she scrunched her eyes up, her whole face going tense as she tried to think of anything but that. Puppies. Donuts. Anything that wasn’t Lena with Jack.

Kara sighed and rolled onto her side, her eyes taking in the city light’s gentle glow through her bedroom curtains. She tuned out the sound of the city beyond and tried to focus on slowing the fast beat of her heart. These feelings she felt, it had to be a mistake. She wasn’t jealous. Lena was her friend, her best friend, someone who she admired for being smart and successful and beautiful and…

Kara sighed heavily, her eyes closing. Lena was beautiful. That wasn’t a secret, anyone with eyes knew that. But the way Jack had looked at Lena at his talk, like he thought she was beautiful, that he had told her she was beautiful and she had probably blushed at the compliment felt like lead in her stomach. Kara opened her eyes, her expression growing somber. Lena was lovely when she blushed. A light dusting of pink beneath her makeup, or those even rarer times when her neck would flush red. Those colors made Kara smile. She loved to make Lena blush. And today Lena no doubt blushed because of Jack.

Kara clicked the button on the side of her phone and again looked at the time. 3:05am. She put her thumb on the home button and navigated to her message app and read the five unanswered messages she’d sent Lena earlier in the evening. ‘Everything ok?’ ‘Let me know if you need back up.’ ‘I’m here for you if you want to talk’ ‘I’ll be up late, call me any time’. ‘Just checking in.’

Kara worked her jaw and then closed the phone, holding it to her chest. This couldn’t be happening. Shouldn’t, be happening. Lena was her friend. Lena had asked for support, not this. “Whatever this is,” Kara muttered in the dark. She swallowed hard, ashamed with herself. Because she knew what this was. She’d felt it when she saw James and Lucy together, only this, what she’d felt today was a million times worse because her feelings for James had been a crush. Her feelings for Lena…

Kara sighed and rolled onto her back. She took a deep breath and then rolled toward her sidetable. She plugged the phone into its charging cable and turned away from it, closing her eyes and eventually falling into a restless sleep. 

She rose with the sun, groggily checking her phone with disappointment before she had even fully come into consciousness. No word from Lena. Kara rose and made herself a full breakfast, trying to ignore how her hearing reached out for the phone that she’d left bedside. There was no rush in her morning routine, she had no job to get to, yet she still found herself in her bathroom getting dressed like she was expected somewhere. She picked out an outfit that made her feel pretty, curled her hair like she had an appointment, and a little after 9:30am she was out the door, her big black purse slung over her shoulder.

She walked all the way to L-Corp, and by the time she exited the elevator on Lena’s floor, her hands were shaking. She smiled at Jess as she made her way to the door and the assistant kindly smiled back. Kara walked into Lena’s office with her hand on her stomach, holding her breath as the door shut behind her. As if she were bracing herself for a blow. As if she were expecting the world to end.

Lena was staring at her computer, her fingers idly playing with one of her earrings, a soft smile on her face. Kara stopped and sucked in a breath. Lena was gorgeous, glowing with the sun shining in the large window behind her and it made Kara’s heart ache.

Lena looked up, her brow crumpling, her smile widening. “Kara,” she said, obviously confused. “Did we have an early lunch scheduled?” she asked, her hand dropping to her mouse pad to navigate to her calendar app.

“No,” Kara stuttered, walking more fully into the office, her fingers picking at the watch on her wrist. 

“Oh,” Lena said, looking back to Kara, still confused by her presence.

“I just wanted to make sure you were ok.” Lena’s confusion deepened and Kara continued. “You had dinner with Jack last night. Alone.”

“Right,” Lena blushed profusely and she looked away, and Kara’s throat went rigid at the sight of Lena’s pink cheeks. Lena’s brow knit and she stammered as she spoke, her gaze averted. “I saw that you texted; I’m sorry I didn’t reply. I turned my phone off at dinner and then got a late start this morning. Things have been a little crazy.”

“Oh,” Kara said, wondering what the late start could be from and trying futily not to picture Lena with Jack. “It’s ok,” Kara lied. “I was just worried.” Lena looked to her, quizically. “Because Jack is your Kryptonite.”

“Yeah,” Lena blushed again and looked away.

“Did you guys have fun?” Kara asked, willing her voice not to crack.

“We did,” Lena said. She nodded to a chair opposite her desk and Kara sat, her back ramrod straight, her hands in her lap. “We went to Giordano’s.” Lena smiled and Kara knew it was for her, because Lena knew Kara loved Giordano’s. “We actually stayed so long we closed out the place,” Lena said, her voice conveying how amazed she was that it had happened.

“Sounds like you had a lot to talk about,” Kara said, uneasily resting her purse on the floor before righting herself.

“We did,” Lena said with a smile.

“Mostly business?” Kara asked. “I’m sure you had a million questions about the nanotechnology.”

“I did,” Lena laughed. “But, we mainly talked about other things.”

“Like?” Kara pried.

“Personal, things.” 

“I see.”

There was a long pause. Lena cocked her head to the side, and squinted as she shared. “He was different than the last time I saw him in Metropolis. It was like how things were for us before everything happened with my family, when we would just, talk for hours. We actually came back here after dinner.”

“Here,” Kara repeated, her eyes going slightly wide. “To your office, here?” 

Lena chuckled. “I was going to show him some of the things I’d been working on.”

“Lucky him,” Kara said. The thought that he had been here, in the same space she had spent so much time with Lena made Kara’s skin crawl. 

“He apologized.”

“For?”

“For making me choose between L-Corp and him,” Lena said. “He said.” She hesitated. “He said he wondered what would have happened between us if he had been ok with my decision to take over the company from my family. Made room, for my family.” Lena met Kara’s eye.

Kara swallowed hard but didn’t speak.

Lena looked away and her brow knit. “I told him I wondered what it would it would have been like if I had stayed. Not taken over L-Corp. Built my legacy with him.” She paused. “He kissed me.” Lena waited for Kara to say something, but she was silent. “We had breakfast this morning; he’s on his way back to Metropolis this afternoon.”

“So you’re back together,” Kara finally breathed out around her broken heart.

“No,” Lena said with a soft shake of her head.

“But.” Kara felt uneven. “I don’t understand.” Lena cocked her head in question. “You said he was your Kryptonite, that you only broke up because he made your chose and here he was saying he could make room and…” She shook her head. “You didn’t get back together with him?”

Lena opened her mouth and then closed it. “I will always love Jack,” she said carefully, before meeting Kara’s eye. “But after talking last night… I realized he is my past.” Kara exhaled shakily and for the first time since she came into the office, Lena’s gaze turned critical. “Kara, are you all right?”

“No,” Kara replied, her voice a little shaky. She had meant to say yes, to play it off now that she had confirmed that they weren’t back together but she couldn’t make her mouth form the word. 

“What’s wrong?” Lena asked with concern, her brow furrowing as her body leaned forward.

“I, I can’t,” Kara nearly whispered, shaking her head.

“Of course you can,” Lena said with a gentle smile. “We’re friends, you can tell me anything.” Kara shook her head and stood, and Lena watched as Kara started to pace by her desk, her fingers playing with her watch. “Kara?” Lena asked. 

“I don’t even know if you–” Kara cut herself off. “Alex told me this was difficult, and I understood, intellectually, but I didn’t really believe her until now.”

“Kara,” Lena repeated stood up slowly and Kara stopped to look at her. “What is going on?”

Kara took in a sharp breath. She should leave. Beg off, say she had something to do but the look Lena was giving her was rooting her to the spot, compelling her to say the words that two days ago seemed incomrephensible. “Something happened,” she said, her fingers clasped awkwardly and tightly before her. “To me, last night, and I have something I want to tell you, but if I do, it will change our friendship and I don’t want that because I value our friendship so much. But even if I don’t say it, our friendship has changed, for me at least and I–”

“Kara,” Lena interrupted, walking around the desk and coming to a stop near Kara. “You’re kind of freaking me out.” She smiled, trying to hide how concerned she was. “Whatever it is, whatever you think is going to happen, you can tell me. Anything.”

Kara was momentarily struck silent. She swallowed hard. “I think you’re beautiful.”

“What?” Lena breathed out, confused.

“I think you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever known. You’re so pretty, and smart and kind and when I think about you and Jack I feel so incredibly jealous.”

“Kara,” Lena said, taking a small step back.

“All I could think last night was how much I wished you were with me. That I was the one you were getting dressed up to go out to eat with. That I was the one who ended up here, kissing you.”

“I don’t…”

“I thought it was just admiration, that I admired you because you’re so successful and you’re my friend but when I saw you with Jack at his talk I realized that it was more than that. That I had feelings for you that went beyond admiration.” Kara licked her lips. “I realized how I love when you hug me goodbye after we hang out because a little bit of your perfume stays with me after you leave, and I love having your scent stay with me. And how I love when you text me, even if it’s just a silly little thumbs up emoji in reply to something dumb I’ve said. I love when I see your picture on a magazine and I love when you talk about your work and I–” Kara cut herself off. “I can’t stand the thought of you being with anyone but me.”

“Kara, I…” Lena licked her lips. “I don’t know what to say.”

Kara nodded. “I know. It’s not fair. These are my feelings, and I shouldn’t burden you with them but– I couldn’t sleep last night, thinking about it, and now that I’m here, I….” She looked to her hands. “I’m sorry, I know what it’s like to have a friend confess these sort of feelings.”

Lena looked to Kara with surprise. “Who?”

“Winn,” Kara said quietly. She smiled awkwardly, adjusting her glasses. “I don’t even know if you like women.” The smile slipped from her face as soon as she finished speaking, her lips thinning.

“I do,” Lena said, but her voice sounded far away. 

Kara didn’t know what to do with the information, didn’t know what to do with the shell-shocked expression on Lena’s face. “If you want me to leave, I understand.”

“I don’t want you to leave,” Lena breathed out. 

Kara just swallowed.

“How…” Lena trailed off. Lena cocked her head and stared at Kara, and Kara shifted beneath her gaze. 

“Lena…”

“Is this a joke?” Lena asked, her lips curling into a smile. “Some, prank to see what I’ll say or do?” The smile immediately slid from her features, her eyes hotly staring at Kara for her reply.

“No,” Kara said, her brow falling heavily as she shook her head. Confusion and hurt shone through her eyes. “I would never do that to you.” Lena nodded her head, her jaw clenched tight, and Kara continued. “I care about you. I would never…”

Lena looked to her feet and pressed her lips together tightly, and Kara’s stomach fell as she watched Lena struggle with how to respond. 

“I’m sorry,” Kara said. “I’ve. I’ve obviously crossed a line and I–”

“Kara.”

“I should go.” Kara moved forward and reached for her purse, but stopped when Lena’s fingers closed around her wrist. Kara looked to the action and then up, only having a split second to realize what was happening before Lena was stepping into her space, placing a hand on her jaw and kissing her. 

It was gentle. Far more gentle than Kara expected with how quickly Lena had pressed their lips together. Kara sighed, surprised and Lena pulled away, their lips slowly pulling apart. Kara’s eyes opened wide and she found Lena’s eyes were closed, as if she were worried that if she opened them things would fall apart. Kara felt her heart flood with warmth and she stepped slightly closer, her free hand gently wrapping around Lena’s arm and Kara kissed Lena with as much care and affection as she could offer. 

It was Lena’s turn to sigh, her fingers letting go of Kara’s wrist and moving to the small of Kara’s back, Kara’s own hands wrapping around Lena in a firm embrace. They pressed together almost tentatively, nervously, until Lena tilted her head, deepening the kiss and Kara’s reservations evaporated. Kara slipped her hand beneath Lena’s jacket along the silk material on her back, and she kicked herself for wearing a tight skirt that prevented her from sliding her leg between Lena’s, kicked herself for wearing a high collar that impeded Lena’s hand from touching the length of her neck, kicked herself for having this conversation next to Lena’s white desk and not the white couch across the room. 

Kara pulled them closer together and their kisses became more passionate, a little more messy until Lena pulled back, Kara only seeing her apologetic smile when she opened her eyes after her lips chased and found air. Lena blinked and shook her head. “I can’t believe you feel this way.”

“Me too,” Kara said, her eyes wide and hands resting on Lena’s hips. 

Lena licked her lips and took a centering breath. “Are you sure?” 

“Yeah,” Kara said with a nod and a smile. “Last night–”

Lena looked to the ground, her brow knitting. “It’s okay, we don’t need to talk about it.” She looked up and met Kara’s eye and shook her head. “I never would have gone if I knew you’d felt this way,” she confessed and it was Kara’s turn to be caught off guard.

“Really?”

“Really,” Lena said, nodding her head.

Kara’s brow quirked. “Did you. Did you, have feelings for me?”

Lena smiled, blushing the most beautiful shade of red Kara had ever seen. “I tried hard not to be obvious.”

“You weren’t,” Kara said, shocked.

Lena demured, looking to the side. “You’ve been such a wonderful friend, I didn’t want to do anything to ruin it.” When she looked back up, Kara could see it. How Lena felt, written plainly in the pink coating her cheeks.

Kara shook her head, not believing her luck, not believing that she had missed time when she could have been– “Would it ruin anything if I kissed you right now?”

“Absolutely not,” Lena giggled as she moved forward, their lips coming together in mirrored smiles. The smiles quickly faded, the kiss quickly deepening, their hands pulling each other closer. They were so wrapped up in each other that they didn’t hear the knock, only breaking apart when they heard Jess’s voice getting closer.

“Ms. Luthor, your 11 o’clock– Oh my god, I am so sorry.”

Lena took a step back and rubbed at the edge of her lips with her fingertips, casting a quick, embarrassed look at a blushing Kara before looking to where her assistant stood frozen like a statue several feet away. “It’s all right, Jess.”

“I am really sorry,” Jess reiterated, her face chalky and frightened.

“It’s ok,” Lena reassured, holidng out a concilatory hand. “Um. Could you please tell Mr. Jacobs I’ll be with him in a few minutes?”

Kara looked between the two women. “It’s ok, I can go.”

“Are you sure?” Lena asked, her eyebrows arching and Kara glanced to the door where Jess quickly slipped out.

“Yeah, you have a company to run, and I have some… blog thing to do, probably.”

Lena pressed her lips together affectionately. After a brief hesitation she stepped forward and kissed Kara, careful to keep some distance between their bodies. When they broke apart, Lena briefly rested her forehead against Kara’s. “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” Kara whispered in return. The two women broke apart, smiling at each other. Kara leaned over and picked up her purse and walked to the door, glancing over her shoulder with a mega-watt smile every couple of steps, Lena beaming at her as she crossed the room. Kara made it to the door and stopped, her hand on the handle. “Do you want to have dinner with me tonight? I could pick you up at your place at 7?”

She didn’t think it was possible for Lena’s smile to brighten, but it did. “I would love to.”

Kara smiled and nodded her head once, sharply. “Then it’s a date.”

“It’s a date,” Lena said, leaning back to rest against the edge of her desk. 

Kara started to open the door and then stopped, briefly closing it as she glanced over to Lena. “Wear the green dress?”

Lena’s brow quirked and then she looked surprised. She opened her mouth and then closed it, her face once again erupting in the blush Kara loved. “I will.”

Kara smiled and then briefly waved. “Bye.” 

“Bye.”

Kara exited, blushing as she shared an embarrased smile with Jess, and passed the man waiting patiently and obliviously to speak with Lena. Kara headed directly to the elevators, her purse slung over her shoulder. She entered the elevator and pressed the button for the lobby floor, her smile only fading once the car began to descend and she started to think about how in the world she was going to tell Lena she was Supergirl over dinner.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! :)


End file.
